Principal Software Engineer

Ascend Learning; Leawood (KS); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Company paid life Insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and parental leave

Employee assistance program

Wellness programs and charitable match

Job summary

Ascend Learning in Leawood, KS is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture across multiple teams while remaining hands-on in design and coding. You will shape platforms serving healthcare education professionals and educators.

The role emphasizes setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and driving modernization with modern .NET, Angular, Azure, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, and SQL Server.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in software development for web-based applications, including 3+ years in a technical leadership or architecture role.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, patterns and best practices with organizational and teamwork and collaboration skills, and strong attention to detail.
• Hands-on experience applying AI-assisted and agentic development tools across the SDLC, including integrating AI capabilities into products.
• Experience in modern .NET (8+), C#, SQL Server, and ASP.NET Core (MVC/Web API).
• Experience in modern Angular (v17+), TypeScript, HTML5, CSS.
• Experience with Kafka, Docker, and Kubernetes
• Experience building and operating applications on Microsoft Azure
• Experience with Git-based platforms (e.g. GitLab)
• Deep experience designing distributed systems, including microservices, event‑driven architectures, and API design
• Knowledge of secure software development practices and privacy, security, and accessibility requirements
• Experience with observability and production operations, including monitoring and incident response
• Experience defining automated testing strategies and CI/CD quality gates
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or Bicep) and cloud cost awareness

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve scalable cloud-native applications and platforms using .NET, Angular, Azure, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, and SQL Server.
• Own the technical vision, architecture, and long-term evolution of your domain, establishing engineering standards and modernization.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives from concept through production, partnering with engineering, product, and business stakeholders.
• Mentor and coach engineers through technical guidance, code reviews, and best practices.
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies and AI-enabled development practices to improve product quality and outcomes.
• Ensure operational excellence through production troubleshooting, deployments, and on-call rotations.
• Communicate technical strategy and architectural decisions to engineering leadership.
• Participate in and present key initiatives to senior leaders and software engineering community

Skills

Technical leadership

Architectural design

C#/.NET

Angular

Azure

Docker/Kubernetes

Microservices

REST/API design

CI/CD

Git

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kafka

Docker

Kubernetes

Azure

SQL Server

ASP.NET Core

Job description

What You'll Do

We are seeking highly skilled Principal Software Engineer to join our team to lead and contribute to the development of software applications using multiple technologies. Our Software Engineering teams support a wide range of services, platforms and products that span across healthcare. The development team is responsible for both maintenance and development of multiple services/applications that serve several Ascend Learning businesses. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will set technical direction across multiple development teams and shape the architecture of platforms used by learners, educators, and healthcare professionals, while remaining hands‑on in design and code.

Where You'll Work

This position will work a hybrid schedule from our Leawood, KS office location. Remote work within the United States will also be considered.

How You'll Spend Your Time

• Design, build, and evolve scalable cloud-native applications and platforms using modern technologies including .NET, Angular, Azure, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, and SQL Server.
• Own the technical vision, architecture, and long-term evolution of your domain, establishing engineering standards, guiding platform modernization, reducing technical debt, and ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with business objectives.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives from concept through production, partnering with engineering, product, and business stakeholders to deliver high-impact solutions.
• Mentor and coach engineers through technical guidance, code reviews, engineering best practices, and software design principles, while providing feedback that supports team members' growth and development.
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies, AI-enabled development practices, and innovative approaches that improve product quality, team effectiveness, and customer outcomes.
• Ensure operational excellence through production troubleshooting, deployments across environments, incident resolution, and participation in on‑call rotations as needed.
• Communicate technical strategy, architectural decisions, and key initiatives to engineering leadership and broader communities of practice.
• Participate in and present key initiatives to our senior leaders and software engineering community

What You'll Need

• High school diploma or GED required. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in software development for web-based applications, including 3+ years in a technical leadership or architecture role
• Experience establishing engineering standards, patterns and best practices with organizational and teamwork and collaboration skills, and strong attention to detail.
• Hands-on experience applying AI-assisted and agentic development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) across the SDLC, including establishing guidelines for responsible use with measurable outcome, as well as integrating AI capabilities such as LLMs or retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) into products
• Experience in modern .NET (8+), C#, SQL Server, and ASP.NET Core (MVC/Web API)
• Experience in modern Angular (v17+), TypeScript, HTML5, CSS
• Experience with Kafka, Docker, and Kubernetes
• Experience building and operating applications on Microsoft Azure
• Experience with Git-based platforms (e.g. GitLab), including branching strategies, merge requests and CI/CD integration
• Deep experience designing distributed systems, including microservices, event‑driven architectures, and API design, with a focus on scalability, performance, and resilience
• Knowledge of secure software development practices (e.g., OWASP Top 10) and of the privacy, security, and accessibility (e.g., WCAG) requirements that apply to education and healthcare products
• Experience with observability and production operations, including monitoring, alerting, service‑level objectives (SLOs), and leading incident response and post‑incident reviews
• Experience defining automated testing strategies (unit, integration, and end-to-end) and quality gates within CI/CD pipelines
• Experience with infrastructure‑as‑code (e.g. Terraform or Bicep) and an awareness of cloud cost management

Hiring Range

The current full-time, annualized base pay hiring range for this role is $134,600.00-$192,500.00. In accordance with applicable state laws, we are providing the expected pay range for this position. Individual compensation will be determined by various factors, including relevant experience, qualifications, current business needs and local market factors. Most regular, full-time employees are eligible to participate in an Ascend incentive bonus or sales plan.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Company paid life Insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and parental leave
• Employee assistance program
• Other wellness programs such as Headspace and Airvet
• Charitable matching program

Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S.-based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.